Technical Got her to start but won’t idle

I'd go back and reuse old unit. You live in Vegas (I'm L.A. Ca.) and one time driving around I stumbled on a shop that works on old cars. I big place west of the strip just either direction of Flamingo if I recall. If you know the place I'm talking about stop in and see if they can direct you to carb shop. By the way, they have a cut away of a Y Block in the lobby.

Edit, It's permanently closed. Lost in the 50's Automotive was the name.

 

Put a needle & seat in the old carb or a new float ( stop the bleeding)/ carbs are simple, easy to work on !

 

The gauge video I saw the needle was bouncing. It was not steady.

 

BINGO!!!

The fact that it was doing this before the carburetor change opens up things quite a bit.

It's time to start from square one and do a complete tune up.
Check plugs and plug Gap. Read the plugs.
Check points and point gap.
Check the cap.
Condenser......Now here is something that can cause a multitude of problems.
Reconfirm timing per tune up data....TDC on #1 the mark should be at or close to the pointer. It's possible the distributor may have moved being too advanced to idle.

Change the condenser First!

 

All the rest aside, you still need to get a stop sorted for the idle screw.
If you can,make a stop with a few of the same size washers( or a thick washer) that fit the shaft where it needs to be to lined up with the screw so you can at least set some kind of idle to start with.
Then look at your next issues.

 

I did make one today. I’ll post a pic tomorrow


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All new plugs, gapped , spark plug wires, new condenser, adjusted points , found tdc, I think it’s a leak like everyone has been saying. Just a matter of finding it.


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"New" condensers are mostly junk. Where did you get it? What brand name is on it?

 

I got it from Napa auto parts. Not sure of the name


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Good to have 2 carbs so you can possibly make 1 good one. If you can find the specs for the carb, I would see what the float level is. Remove both mixture screws to see how they look, make sure they are sharp and not scored up.

 

Just so you know Christie, any air getting into the engine by a vacuum leak gets by the carburetor without being metered. so it throws off the calibration of fuel and air so you get a lean condition.
When you put your hand over the carb you start restricting air so if you had a vacuum leak the engine in theory it would be closer to the correct calibration. roughly 14 parts air to 1 part fuel
The vacuum bouncing can be several things, I wouldn't start making changes until you have a solid base line that comes with a good throttle stop "AKA" the missing part.
Your coil looks to be on the new side, is that correct? Do you have a timing light?
It would be interesting to see if the bumps in vacuum correspond to and bumps in timing marks moving.

 

Worn timing chain a possibility. You should be able to get it to stay running if you get the idle speed high enough.
Then you can check for vacuum leak with carb cleaner.
Is the firing order correct for the engine, new cap and wires are mentioned.

 

Yesterday I went and made the stop for the idle, I used some washers and Jb weld to fill in the center since The circumference was too large for the post. I also decided to take the choke control attachments off of the old carb and put it on the ‘new’ carb. Basically she’s a Frankenstein monster of the two carbs combined lol I haven’t got a chance to try to start her, I’m going out there when it’s cooler tonight .


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^^^^^ Recheck your manual choke. Cable needs be at horizontal as compared to the 45 degree as shown above. Inner cable (solid wire) it's self needs to be straightened as well.

 

Yes, I just put it on to mock it up for the pic. Still need to adjust it and tighten too. I’m so excited, you all have no idea! It’s been over a year since I’ve driven her. So thank you!!


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I’m impressed ! You have what I think I have instilled in my daughter (and son). With a little education you can solve any problem.

 

Ok, I got the timing right, I fixed a small leak I had, adjusted idle and mixture screws. She’s running really nice!! Sounds great and not running rich like she used to.

However....... lol....when I put gas in the tank, the gas isn’t coming up to the fuel pump! (I was using a portable gas can with a hose this entire time while repairing her).


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Any ideas on why the gas won’t come up from rear to front? Am I supposed to siphon it to the front to clear the air out of the fuel line?


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That has to be it. Lol right? I have just air in fuel lines ??


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Nice going! I am proud of you. How old is the gas in the tank? The filter sock on the sending unit may be crapped up. Or you may have a rotted-collapsed piece of gas hose somewhere. You could try to disconnect the hose at the fuel pump and gently blow compressed air back into the tank. Use very little pressure. First disconnect the line at the tank and see if anything comes out. On my Ford, the float in the tank... the brass crumbled in my hand. I replaced both the tank and sending unit, Rock Auto for both.

 

Did I miss what the base timing is at? or the vacuum reading at idle was?

I kinda (could be wrong here) see "check thhis xxx then "yes, checked ok"

I dunno

 

Are you running off your fuel pump from gas can to carb? or straight from gas can to carb?

Point is, if your fuel pump is working and you are using it, then you need to probably drop the tank and have it cleaned, repaired or replaced ... then blow out your fuel line to clear it ... possibly needs replaced also.

But if running off a can bypassing the fuel pump, maybe then your fuel pump is bad and needs replaced to draw the fuel out of the tank.

Your post did not clarify if you were using the fuel pump to suck gas out of the temporary gas can.

 

I dropped the tank, cleaned it and blew the line out awhile back. She’s been totally empty all this time. I only put in two gallons of gas into her.

Also, she’s been running from a portable plastic gas can, hose went from can to fuel pump , and it’s a new fuel pump. I’m thinking I need to either put more gas in the tank or bleed the line. No?


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More gas

 

more gas ...

 

make sure you tightened up all the line connections, could be sucking air some place.

 

Even a pinhole in the old lines will suck air in and cause a issue. You may need to crawl under it and follow the line back to the tank, a pin hole should leave a wet spot around it.

 

You don't have to bleed the lines, air in the line will not hurt anything. The fuel pump will pull the air out of the line and pull the gas to itself, even if the tank is lower than the pump, it will still pull the fuel to itself. Verify you have enough gas in the tank to cover the outlet. If you blew the line out already, it should be good to go. No inline filter between the tank and pump?

 

I have been following this thread from the beginning. I have to say that I am impressed with your commitment to accomplish the task at hand. I have contributed to these types of thread in the past only to see the OP not take any advice and get discouraged and just stop posting. You never find out if he or in this case she solved the problem.

Thank you for sticking with it, asking questions and taking the advice of the pros that inhabit this board. It's actually refreshing and appreciated and make most of us old guys keep coming back to help.

Last thing...please rework that manual choke cable so it is horizontal with the intake manifold as others have said. It's not going to work in the configuration you posted.

 

Nice going! Now one thing to keep in mind, when actually checking the ignition timing, or manifold vacuum, bring the idle RPM down to factory spec. Maybe 550. Sounds on a phone at least like it was wound up pretty good. Can set it wherever you like afterward but when diagnostic or troubleshooting it's kind of important. 20" steady on the gauge in general is very good, that means there are no major engine derangements and the ignition timing is close.

The vacuum gauge will also check fuel pump pressure.